Rating: 
Summary: Vintage Straub, unfortunately.
Review: Straub is an extraordinarily literate writer who occasionally produces rich, complex stories like Ghost Story and Floating Dragon, and occasionally produces muddled messes like this one. Every time I started to get into the story, something confusing would throw me right out, and the ending was a thoroughly unsatisfying twist out of left field. (And when will horror writers get over their obsession with H.P. Lovecraft?)
Rating: 
Summary: How DOES he do it?
Review: No, I'm not referring to the question "How does Straub create such amazing stories?" No, I'm referring to the following question: "How does Peter Straub get published?" Now, I'm not one of the biggest readers of Peter Straub, infact, I've only completely read two of his books (Mr. X and Black House w/ King) and I tried to read only one other of his books (Floating Dragon). Unfortunately, this work seems to be from the hand of a five-year old who is writing down the story from a well-educated parent, but the five-year old mixes the story up. What I'm saying is that underneath the plot (if there really is one) and all the annoying sub-plots, it appears that there IS some kind of good in it. I believe that after being totally dissapointed with Black House, even though King made a great effor to try to make up for Straub's pitiful writing in the beginning, and after tyring Floating Dragon, and finding that, even though the synopsis at the back of the book looked FABULOUS, the book had absolutely no plot at all, except for a few connections, (kay this IS a long sentance, forgive me) that I should be able to be critical of PEter Straub's work. My I pose another question for you? "How did this win the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel?" THe original reason I bought ANY Peter Straub books was because I was just getting into Stephen King, and knew that they had written the Talisman together, and a new one by them was coming out soon. So, I bought Floating Dragon. I was dissapointed with Floating Dragon and Black House as I already said. But I thought that maybe Straub was just trying to lengthen Black House, to make up for the boring beginning. Afterall, he did say that he thought the outline they had made for teh book wouldn't yield a long enough novel. And I also thought 'Maybe he just had a bad book with Floating Dragon.' Afterall, isn't every author allowed one or two bad books? So when I saw Mr. X at 7.99 Canadian for the hard-cover, I bought it, especially since it had won the Bram Stoker award. What followed was absolutely the worst book I've ever read. Just like with Floating Dragon, the synopsis of the book looked good, maybe even not as good as Floating Dragon. But Mr. X is just as bad of a book as the serial killer novel. Mr. X doesn't seem to have a plot. The opening is actually good writing, and the reader knows what's going on. Throughout the book, it is no secret that Peter Straub knows what's going on in the novel, but he doesn't tell anyone else what's going on. After Ned goes to his mother, the rest of the 480 pages are nothing but a jumble of words with little meaning. There ARE some plot developments, but when they happen (i.e: when the twin brother appears) I didn't KNOW that what I had jsut read were plot developments. You'll have to read the book to find out what I mean. The ending goes on for too long as well. After his final battle with Mr. X (which leades me to wondering whether he fought him back in time, whether it was in a dream, whether Mr. X came to him in real life...) there is still more to go. But there are no further plot twists at the end, like, say Primal Scream or Headhunter by Michael Slade where, after you think it's over but still 100 or even just 50 pages to go, something big happens. Mr. X is simply a boring book, not only in the end. I did read this book in 5 days, which is a pretty good time for me for the size of that book. In fact I was reading this book at every opportunity I had. It wasn't because I wanted to find out what happened. It was because i had to get it done. There is no REAL plot to this book, there is no complexity to the characters, there is no good writing in this book. This is the worst book ever written. It doesn't deserve a single star.
Rating:
Summary: Cure for insomnia
Review: Mr. X is about a dysfunctional family whose members have various supernatural powers and how one member figuratively and literally comes to terms with various aspects of himself.......This 1999 release by Peter Straub is touted as a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft. It is also stamped with the all powerful marketing quote from Stephen King: "Ghastly, hide your eyes horror". Oh, it's ghastly alright. Ghastly dull. Plot twists abound in Mr. X which ultimately twists the reader out of caring about anything in the book. Whilst there is some promise in the beginning, Mr. X eventually wanders off into a very disappointing sequence of clichés that the Straubster doesn't even bother to revitalize. The ending was weak, rambling for too long, hoping to deliver a final twist that had already packed up and left town. If you're determined to pick up this piece of wood, be prepared to wade through page after page of uninspiring plot and characters. It is difficult to understand how it recieved a Bram Stoker award, just as it is difficult to understand how Straub continues to get published. Oh, yeah, Mr. X does have value - it's a great cure for insomina.
Rating:
Summary: Just plain boring....
Review: I've read King and Barker for the last 15 years and enjoyed both a lot. I bought Mr. X based on King's "recommendation" on the front cover.....bad move. Unfortunately, Straub seems to like long, dragged out stories and incredibly short, small climaxes. I found the main, and sub-, storylines tedious, the climax (after 3/4 of the book) a major anti-climax and the context superficial. I would not recommend this book to anybody. Want to give thriller/horror a try? Go to Misery by King.
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Summary: Peter Straub can do better than this . . .
Review: I must confess that I picked up this book with high expectations, misled by the rave blurb reviews and the Bram Stoker Award it received. Perhaps I set my standards too high, because Peter Straub's Mr. X falls horribly short of the mark in the end. The story Peter Straub sets out to tell focuses (sometimes tentatively) on Ned Dunstan, a man who is seized by paralysis on every one of his birthdays and forced to watch the heartless crimes perpetrated by a mysterious entity known only as Mr. X. And with another birthday looming near, Ned is on a trip to his hometown in Illinois after getting a premonition of his mother's death. Before passing away, the woman imparts Ned a revelation, a revelation which will in the end lead him to his family's darkest, strangest secrets, and the identity of Mr. X. While the book shows some promise in the beginning, alternating between scenes from Ned Dunstan's life (which tend to drag a little) and the vile exploits of Mr. X, it eventually wanders off into a very disappointing sequence of clichés that Peter Straub doesn't bother to revitalize. The ending feels inadequate as well, rambling for too long, hoping to deliver a final twist that had already packed up and left for holidays. Mr. X is also very far from being a sterling example of Peter Straub's best work. His writing is a delight, and he clearly knows how to conjure words and images that stick to a person's mind for a long time, but sadly the reader will only get a fleeting glimpse of that dark brilliance in here. Despite Mr. X's multiple shortcomings, it does boast a few rare passages that no true horror aficionado should miss. Doubly so if you are a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, since Straub pays the man a big homage in this book. However, be prepared to wade through the whole 600-plus pages of uninspiring plot, characters and mood if you want a glimpse of such tasty morsels. Not worth it if you don't have the time, though. In final analysis, it is beyond me how this book got a Bram Stoker Award for best novel. It's not a dreadfully bad book, but it's still miles away from Peter Straub's best writing. A disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: The other customer reviews on this page astonish me
Review: I am a Straub fan. A big fan. But I don't give him props for everything he does. The work has to earn it. This book earns it. It features the hallmarks of other Straub works, particularly the theme of "this is how the past shapes and haunts the present." The writing itself, of course, is beyond reproach. The plotting is intricate, as it explicitly invokes Lovecraft and implicitly pays him homage. The denouement brings it all together in a way that is not only satisfying, but also in a way that simply makes sense. Does the final sentence leave you questioning all that has come before, as one of the jacket blurbs claims? Of course not. Does it leave you anxiously awaiting the release of Straub's next work of art? Absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. X is disappointing
Review: I've read Mr. Straub's work over the years, & Mr. X is uneventful and not in the least bit suspensful. I gave the story a chance, as I was sitting in a hospital for a while. When I finished, I offered it to the trash bin. Koko, Throat, Ghost Story, & co-written Talisman were SO much better! I am a fan, and I do hope he will resume writing in the 'can't take your eyes away' style I have been accustomed to.
Rating:
Summary: Labyrinthine Read
Review: If you read fiction fast, Mr. X will slow you down. As soon as I finished reading this book, I began to read it again. There is so much detail -- clues really -- presented in characters' conversations, descriptions of old photographs, geography of a town, that simply flipping back and forth wasn't enough. I had to read the book again. Ned Dunstan is the main character. The Dunstan's are the weirdest family I have known since the Addams family. And I'm not talking about the normal weirdness of people who are relatives. Sure, Ned has an uncle who dresses in canary yellow or eggplant purple sports coats and an aunt who takes things (like shopping bags full), but he also has aunts who move things (telekinetically), a dead grandmother who could read people's minds, and a dead great grandfather who keeps talking to people. Ned has returned to his home town because he feels his mother is dying. And he's right, Starr Dunstan dies soon after Ned arrives. Before Starr dies, she gives Ned some clues about his father's identity. While at the hospital Ned also picks up some hints about a twin separated from him at birth. This book is about Ned's search for his father (who really wants to find Ned first), his twin brother (or his other personality?), and his exploring his home town. His home town is a historical catacomb of family secrets: strangely small family graves with names that could be simply those of pets, great aunts who are constantly on the watch for weirdness on Ned's part (they should talk!), and the history of two relatives who helped found the town. And wouldn't it be nice for Ned in the aftermath of his mother's death to find his father? Not his father, a paranoid shape shifter, who believes he will be destroyed by his son and therefore must destroy him first. In Ned's search for the identity of his father (Mr. X?), he does come across Robert, his brother (maybe), and he also has some run-ins with some tough guys so nasty that the usual town tough guys won't hang out with them. The tough guys want to kill Ned, too. The book is written in layers: Ned's father's youthful memories of school and a tantalizing forest mirror some of Ned's early memories; visions or dreams Ned has particularly every year on his birthday in which he is aware of another -- himself? a shadow? his brother?; family remembrances of events that occurred when his great aunts were just becoming women and his voluble now-dead great grandfather was alive and randy. Robert just might be Ned's brother, he's pretty randy (like old great grandpa), too. Robert looks enough like Ned that Ned spends a lot of his time either avoiding trouble for something Robert did (winning $500 at cards) or avoiding good because of something Robert did (sleeping with the lovely DA who wants to do it again). Robert also has this unpleasant habit of appearing and disappearing with no warning. Eventually Ned learns that he is not untalented in this family of Dunstans. He can eat time - time travel to you and me. He uses this talent in dealing with his father and with some of those town tough guys, too. I won't tell you more, you've got to read this book. If you like mystery, occult, suspense, this is your book.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but Fun
Review: "Mr. X" is typical Straub, at times frustrating, at other times amazing. His style is decidedly not readily accessible at times, but he does possess a superior command of the English languague (which doesn't always make for quick reading....) Ned Dunstan is a likeable enough sort, and his adventures in the search for "the truth" are convoluted but interesting. The book takes wild twists and turns, he inherits large sums of money, his mother dies, he hooks up with various women. But the biggest question of the book is, what of his double, Robert? Working in a bit of Lovecraft fare is a cool technique also. This book really cooks in the first half, especially Dunstan's college experience, completely surreal and bizarre. "Mr. X" is not an easy read by any means, but is ultimately worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Unimpressive
Review: One of Straub's major strengths as a writer is the quality of his characters and he continues to provide satisfaction in that regard with _Mr. X_. Unfortunately, this is where the satisfaction ends. The plot (as noted in the editorial reviews, based on an 'evil other' theme) is confused-- I don't need a no-brainer book, but in a horror book I shouldn't have to constantly jump back and forth to figure out what I just read either. The relationship between Ned and his (not) twin is unclear as is the nature of his powers. I agree with the reviewer who suggested Straub return to the basics.
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